Uhh...remember me? Holly? Yeah...I'm the lame-o who hasn't posted in months and just sits back to enjoy Brittany's genius! So here I am, hopefully I will be back more often again-I need to re-read Brittany post about breaking-up-with-busy...and maybe write one about Holly-stop-your-excuses! BUT! I'm happy to be back and feeling good about today's post!

A little background: Our little group of friends is on a mission...a health mission. We've oddly all begun different fitness programs @ the same time; Cross Fit, Zumba, gym memberships, running, walking, etc. And while we don't work out TOGETHER...we motivate together! I started a little group on Facebook called "Workin' It Workin' Out" sothat we can gather and motivate each other, share our workouts, articles, accomplishments, struggles, etc. Of course, it's a private group because we are female and do not share, outside our circle, our struggles with weight, fitness, etc. I mean my goodness! ;-) ANYWAY! I've joined a gym and have a great fitness plan, complete with goals and strategies (anyone interested email us and I'll attach it to you or invite you into our FB group!).My long-term goal is to be able to run a relay half marathon with Hannah (our Health/Fitness blogger) where we each run about 6.5 miles. (She is ROCKIN' it & has already run 6.3!!!) Yes, I am a psycho-woman who WANTS to run 6.5 miles...all at once. So of course, I've begun to train, adding distance to my cardio every two weeks (among other cardio and strength training). Hey, it's a process! As I've been spending more and more time on the treadmill (and shockingly LOVING it) I've found a lot of time for thinking. At first, I was selfishly letting my mind just wander, roaming over things in my life, boyfriend, schedule, work, etc. Then one day, as I turned the speed up to start my warm up lap of walking before I hit the speed up to a run, I started to pray. And I thought, "Hey...I'm going to pray until I hit the mile marker!" Well....little did I realize...praying for the time it takes me to walk a lap and run three is a LONG time to pray. I pray at night and sporadically through the day as prayer arises, but never for so long. I was a little embarrassed at first, thinking "Gah, I could talk on the phone with a friend for an hour no problem...but I can't talk to God that long?" So I dug...and I dug...and I dug into my heart for more that I needed to talk to God about. And once I really started...it was no problem! I remembered that God wants to know EVERYTHING, He wants to be a part of EVERYTHING, help with EVERYTHING. There wasn't one thing on my heart I couldn't say to Him...then it started pouring out! I thanked him for blessing after blessing, raised up problem after problem, even just told Him about my day, and my life. I prayed about things that should cross my mind everyday and don't, for forgiveness for me, healing for others. It just kept coming! I decided this would become a routine for me (one I haven't always remembered when I'm sweating on the treadmill). And I decided I would "pray a mile" for every workout. So I'm thinking of calling my time @ the gym "Pray-a-Mile" or "Pray Til You Sweat" or "Praying Fit". (We are TOTALLY going to vote on it @ the end of this post!!) And let me just TELL you....my heart is lighter, happier and fuller with all this longer open conversation with God...of course, added to my normal bouts of prayer."Pray without ceasing." -1Thessalonians 5:17My FAVORITE part...I even prayed ABOUT my workout. I've become so involved in my new workout regime, and am sticking with it better than usual, and (THANK YOU LYSA TERKEURST) I'm making GOD a part of this journey! I am going to start taking care of this vessel, this amazing machine harboring my soul while I walk through this life. Jesus died so that I may live my life on earth. God lent me this body to house my soul. Did I just knock your socks off? I know right! Ouch! This is GOD'S body on loan, this is the body he sacrificed His son for, and I was treating is like a couch decoration? NO WAY! I'm going to take CARE of it...and GLORIFY GOD while I'm doing it!"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20So, there's my little rant...and here's my little challenege, or challengeS actually. #1...think about the crazy detail of your body's functions (respiratory system, digestive system, working limbs...your BRAIN!). It's crazy that God perfected each tiny detail into functioning humans, AMAZING. So, he blessed us with this body, let's challenge ourselves to take better care of it! #2...whatever your workout is, whether you walk or run, lift, dance or jump rope...spend the first few minutes in prayer. Ask Him to provide you with the discipline and motivation to make it through, ask Him to support you in trying to take care of this perfect machine, talk to Him, tell Him about your day. Pray past the point where you even know what to say anymore...dig deep, and pray some more.He wants to talk to us. He wants us to talk to Him. This is the PERFECT time, your "YOU" time, your PRIVATE IN YOUR HEAD time. When you're working out, you're not worried about what you look like, you're sweaty and smelly and I'm sure for me my face is quite entertaining. When you're working out you're focused, goal oriented, you're not multi-tasking (I know I can't run and text or make a grocery list @ the same time!). So---Ask Jesus to jog with you. Ask the Holy Spirit to join you @ Zumba. Take God to the gym. If constant running adds endurance to our muscles and lungs, lifting weights regularly makes us stronger...doesn't it make sense that praying longer, praying harder, praying til you sweat...will grow our faith?Ok! Time to vote! Why? Because now...when you accept this challenge and start praying in your workout...you'll have a name for it! THEN, you'll tell your friends, THEN they'll tell their friends and THENNNN...we'll all be healthier & happier! Physically AND spiritually! WHOO HOO! So! VOTE!